When the mind is ready to understand, the truth will come to meet it.

The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.

Don't be a bodhisatta; don't be an arahant; don't be anything at all. Being something makes you suffer.

The nature of all things is like a magical illusion, a mirage, a dream, a reflection of the moon in water.

The dharma is not in the books. If you want to find the dharma, look in your mind.

Mindfulness is not just bare attention but wise attention that leads to understanding and insight.

Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.

The ultimate purpose of Buddhism is to serve and benefit humanity.

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

Zen does not confuse spirituality with thinking about God while one is peeling potatoes. Zen spirituality is just to peel the potatoes.

The rising and falling of the abdomen is not the main object. The main object is to develop mindfulness, concentration, and insight.

Enlightenment is not a state of perfection but of authenticity.

The superior person is like water, bringing benefit to all without competing.

The practice of patience guards us against losing our presence of mind.

When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another – and ourselves.

Faith is not a commodity that you either have or don't have - it is an inner quality that unfolds as we learn to trust our own deepest experience.

Emptiness is not nothingness. Emptiness is the space of possibility.

The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless.

In the beginning, nothing comes, in the middle nothing stays, in the end nothing goes.

The experience of emptiness engenders compassion.

In Zen there must be satori; there must be a general mental upheaval which destroys the old accumulations of intellection and lays down the foundation for a new life.

Our task is not to seek for love but to find all the barriers within ourselves that we have built against it.

To live – is that not enough? To love – is that not everything?

The Buddha taught us to leave alone the things that don't lead to awakening.

The highest mantra is to be without deception. The highest medicine is to have few desires. The highest meditation is not to be attached.

We practice to learn how to let go, not how to increase our holding on to things.

Concentration develops naturally through continuous noting. Don't try to force concentration to arise.

Enlightenment is not about becoming something special, but about realizing what we already are.

Concentration is a cornerstone of mindfulness practice. Your mindfulness will only be as robust as your capacity to ground your attention in the present moment.

Love is not a feeling. It's a capability.

Wisdom is not something we have to strive to acquire. Rather, wisdom arises naturally as we open our hearts to the truth of what is.

The Buddha's teaching challenges us to master the art of living, to live in a way that leads to the extinction of suffering.

The path is not about perfecting ourselves, but about perfecting our love.